Kevin Taglang

On May 9, 2024, Senator Ben Ray Luján (D-NM) introduced new legislation to strengthen the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP), complete the equipment removal of China-based telecommunications companies, Huawei and ZTE, and allow the Federal Communications Commission to auction certain spectrum licenses to create more responsive networks for consumers. The bill would:

On June 6, initial comments are due in the Federal Communications Commission's recurring proceeding that assesses the state of competition in the communications marketplace, including broadband. In its last Communications Marketplace Report, published in December 2022, the FCC pointed to the potential for more competitive broadband markets.

Congress included the ACCESS BROADBAND Act in the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 and established the Office of Internet Connectivity and Growth (OICG) within the Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA). On April 30, OICG released its annual report detailing the office's work for 2023. OICG administers broadband programs created by both the Consolidated Appropriations Act and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. Four interconnected core pillars drive OICG’s initiatives, strategy, and key accomplishments:

On March 14, 2024, the Federal Communications Commission concluded that broadband is not being deployed in a reasonable and timely fashion. Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, Congress has allocated tens of billions of dollars to support broadband deployment so it may not come as a huge surprise that the FCC came to this conclusion. Approximately 24 million Americans (7% of the total U.S.

On March 29, the Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) published a Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for the State Digital Equity Capacity Grant Program.

On Saturday, March 23, 2024, President Joe Biden signed into law the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2024 (H.R. 2882), legislation that provides funding through September 30, 2024, for projects and activities of departments and agencies of the Federal Government. H.R. 2882 completes the appropriations process for fiscal year 2024 (FY2024). Earlier in March, President Biden signed the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2024 (H.R.

On March 9, 2024, President Joe Biden signed the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2024 (H.R. 4366) legislation that funds, through September 30, departments and agencies of the Federal Government covered by six appropriations bills. Here we look at broadband-related funding for the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the U.S. Department of Commerce's National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA). 

On March 14, the Federal Communications Commission adopted its annual assessment of whether broadband is being deployed in a reasonable and timely fashion.

In its 2024 Broadband Deployment Report, the Federal Communications Commission raised its fixed speed benchmark for broadband to 100 megabits per second (Mbps) download and 20 Mbps upload. The FCC last updated these benchmark speeds in 2015 when it set the speeds at 25/3 Mbps. There is an obvious, short answer to how the FCC reached its 100/20 determination: Congress.

This week, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Rural Utilities Service (RUS) announced the latest window to receive applications for Rural eConnectivity (ReConnect) Program support to extend broadband networks in rural areas.